Realization suddenly pounded into Avira's senses; she just kissed the Major. Shit.

She pulled her mouth back suddenly, her emotions going haywire momentarily as she gathered her thoughts. Avira stared into his bright honey eyes; he looked confused, his head tilting as she felt his gift tingle at the edges of her conscious.

"Major?"

"Mm?"

"Please let me go." Jasper's faltered; he glanced to his hand grasping her hip tightly, the other curled around the back of her neck. The hold was dominant and aggressive; it made complete sense that her fear had spiked, her voice soft and small; like when they were in the South and she didn't want to upset him or Maria.

He reluctantly removed his hands from her person, his brows furrowing slightly. "I'm sorry, darlin'… I just.. got lost."

Avira nodded, she knew what he meant. Her voice cleared as she moved back a few steps, her eyes locked on his form in a manner that made him feel like the God of War he was.

"Back to Peter and Char… Tell me what happen." Avira noticed his tone was fairly sweet and left room for her to say no and reject his questioning. He was simply standing there, his fingers twitching every other second that she remained silent.

She sat with her back against the boulder, her legs folding over each other as she made a gesture for him to sit. And he did, Indian style with his palms resting over his knees in a relaxed manner.

"After you left, Maria was a feral mess. She was killing her lower ranks personally and even though I was one of her favorites she had turned on me; because I was also… your favorite." Avira paused, sighing as her darkening eyes looked faraway.

"So, the first few days after you left, she ripped off my arm and made me fight Sophia constantly until my other arm was ripped off. Once I got my arms back, she took my legs so I couldn't hunt. I starved for another week… maybe two when I got them back and was allowed to feed again. I was due to see her when I overhead Sophia and Sonia discussing how they would kill me."

Jasper was listening, but he was constantly reaching out to feel Avira's emotions. His gaze wondered over her features; she looked so much more mature than she had the last he saw her. And it made him feel horrible that he had barely thought about her in all the time that he'd been away from the army.

"So, I started running. And I ended up in the middle of the desert without a single blood source around me. I knew Maria was going to hunt me down and slaughter me, but at the same time I had no idea where I was going to get my next feeding. Then Peter showed up and he had a fresh human… and…"

She shuddered, her arms wrapping around her knees as her head fell to her knee caps.

"Peter wouldn't show me how to get out of the desert and I was incredibly feral and wild myself, I just … It didn't click in my constantly functioning brain that I could follow his scent. He kept moving me from area to area, training me to fight and feeding me a human a month. I counted back and he kept me there for nearly three years." She laughed breathily, her fingers digging deeply into her arms.

"When Peter decided I had enough training between him and a few other martial artiest vampires; he led me to the boarder of Texas and New Mexico. There was a small cabin that was basically in the middle of no where… he got me clothes and money and basically sent me on my way."

"You said that Peter and Charlotte both came back for you?"

"I… I really didn't want to bring up details in front of your family." Her gaze is melting him from the inside out and he nods, holding a serious expression.

"Charlotte hadn't seen me until a decade or two later when I showed up looking for Peter. He'd been calling me and I broke my phone so… just kind of had to go to him. She did know though…"

"What did he want?"

"A favor; needed an extra pair of hands in taking out a forming coven in his territory and he didn't want to risk Char getting hurt."

"How many?"

"It was ten in total. They weren't a united coven yet and Peter wanted to eliminate the threat before it formed."

Jasper nodded slightly; he'd never heard about any of this but at the same time it didn't surprise him in the least.

"It was torture… what Peter did. He protected me and abused me at the same time, but if he didn't do it, I wouldn't be the fighter I am now."

Avira won't meet Jasper's eyes, she's looking off into the forest to her right and her emotions are drowning him in sorrow, misery, pain. He begins to reach out, but decides against it.

"I should have brought you with me."

"It's the past. Don't let it eat away at you."

Jasper remained silent, he sat watching her breathe. Of course they didn't need to breathe, it was such a human thing to do that it was just a habit in this life. Suddenly, his mind jumps back a couple hundred years to Avira's last human day, the day he condemned her.

XXXXX

Jasper was out with Sonia; she had picked a house with a teenage girl and her parents inside. They had shared the parents; one each to feed off. When Jasper found Avira sleeping he had actually found her to be stunning, but he didn't have much time to continue his inner thoughts when Sonia found him in the girls bedroom.

"Change her." It was an order and left no room for any argument.

Jasper approached her bedside with feather steps, she was sprawled in a night gown which was just over her thighs as she had moved quite a bit in her sleep. Her left arm was folded over the top of her head, her right hanging over the mattress.

He leaned over her frame, carefully removing her arm from her head. Grasping both her wrists he'd pressed them to the mattress above her head in his right hand; Jasper wasn't hungry, he didn't feel the urge to drain her whatsoever so the change would be easy.

He bit quickly, the piercing of his fangs to her throat startled her awake. His left hand flew over her mouth as she flooded him with panic and fear, screams muffled. He drowned it out with as much lethargy as he could muster in the moment, feeling her go limp under his weight, he bit each wrist and then her bare thigh.

"Let's go."

Jasper placed both arms onto her stomach, cradling her to his chest bridal style; they left her home and he took her to the devil herself; Maria of the South.

XXXXX

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts; Jasper looked at Avira sitting on the ground, her fingers picking at the grass.

"Why did Peter and Char not tell me about you?"

Avira looked at him, obviously lost in her own thoughts. His voice pulled her back to the reality around them, the site of him made a little coil of fear begin in her belly. He looked dark and fierce and so much like the Major Whitlock that she had been around for years.

"I'm not entirely sure. Peter said something once about the right time."

Silence envelopes the pair of vampires for a few minutes as both continue to think and mull over thoughts that flood their minds. Jasper sits statue still for several minutes, his breathes in sync with hers without even realizing it.

When he looks at her eyes again, they're a dark gold and dull.

"Let's go huntin'." Avira doesn't say anything at first, she's evaluates him; he's already fed, he's inviting her so she can drink. Nodding without any more words escaping her mouth, she stands, stepping into her boots. She tosses her jacket onto the boulder along with her jeans before she turns to look at Jasper. His bare torso in full view; chiseled muscles rippling lightly as he breathes and moves towards her; his abs begging to touched. His button down shirt fully discarded behind him.

Jasper cleared his throat, failing to suppress a smile as her eyes were nearly glued to his torso. Avira looked up suddenly; she had been unconsciously starring and counting the scars along his frame. Her eyebrows had shot up as he caught her attention.

"I'm… Sorry." Before he can respond she turns and starts into the forest. He can only try to picture a blush forming on those cheeks of hers. He chuckles as he follows, his own eyes wondering up the back of her legs from her calf to her thigh. Sexy.

Avira turned suddenly as she was about to speak she bumped into his chest. It was toned and hard, the marble skin glittered lightly in the fading sunlight; his hand curled around her elbow to prevent her from falling.

"I'm sorry.. uhm; Nevermind." Avira felt flushed, she knew rationally she felt no heat, no blood bumping, but she felt utterly flushed. She knew she loved him, she always had and always would, but in the moment; he made her feel human and she loved it.

"Darlin', are you alright?" Jasper kept his distance, though his tone carried easily to her ears as she walked through the wilderness. "Yeah."

Jasper left the conversation at that. Something was on her mind and it was making her feel awkward and self-conscious around him. He smiled to himself, his gaze running over her back once more before she finally glanced at him with the same demur she normally held.

"I'll go east, you go west and we'll meet back at camp?" He noticed it was a question, not a command and with it came the same thought that was still eating at him; she didn't see him as a friend, she saw him as the Major; someone that was dominate, in control, and not to be defied.

XXXXX

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